A slice is perhaps the most common fault among high handicappers. Rather than a towering and powerful ball flight, the path of a slice resembles that of a banana, and it has very little power to boot. It’s a scene high handicappers are all too familiar with, and one they’re dumbfounded on how to fix.
The first step to correcting a slice is understanding why the ball slices. Most of the time, a slice happens because of an open clubface relative to club path. According to data from GOLFTEC, higher handicaps (above 15) have their clubface between three and five degrees open relative to the path on the downswing. The result is the aforementioned banana slice.
The good news is, there is hope. And this drill from GOLF Top 100 Teacher Joe Plecker can help.
“If you slice, your lead arm is pulling through impact, and your trail arm is not pushing enough,” Plecker says. “When you pull on the grip end towards the downswing, it has the effect of opening the clubface.”
To counter this, you need to push more with your trail arm during your downswing.
Grab an alignment rod and stick it in the ground when you’re on the range. Get into your swing posture next to it and make your downswing motion. When you do that, push your palm into the top of the alignment stick in the ground.
“Go into your impact position, and you’ll get the sense of using that trail arm to push into the ground,” he says.
Now, step over to a golf ball and try to get that same feeling on the downswing of pushing your trail arm through the downswing.
“This motion will balance out your slice, it’ll help you hit straighter shots and will put some power in the release of your golf swing,” he says.
Try it next time you’re on the range and your shot shape is sure to straighten out.
